Financial News

Comet Collapse: Staff Launch E-Petition

Workers at electricals retailer Comet are demanding the Government investigate the chain's collapse into administration.

Angry staff, who face losing their jobs if a buyer cannot be found, have launched an online petition calling for ministers to examine the way private equity firm OpCapita and its boss Henry Jackson ran Comet.

More than 1,100 people have already signed the e-petition.

Comet was bought in February for a nominal £2 and OpCapita said it had invested £35m in the chain.

OpCapita also received £50m from former Comet parent Kesa - now know as Darty - as part of the original sale and has said that the cash was used to provide capital to keep the business going.

The buyout group had planned to revive sales by boosting online business and returning Comet to its roots of value for money deals.

But Deloitte were confirmed as administrators of the stricken retailer earlier this month after it was unable to secure the trade credit insurance it needed to safeguard suppliers.

The petition said: "The promise was made that OpCapita would turn our fortunes around. Yet all that's happened is that we've been stripped down piece by piece until the company wasn't self-sustainable any more."

It added: "The staff of Comet deserve to know everything regarding its downfall as we are currently working under the shadow of redundancy on a day to day basis."

OpCapita was not immediately available for comment.

So far, administrators have announced 330 redundancies at Comet - across head office and support functions - but there have been no job losses among shop staff and all the chain's 236 stores remain open.